Zotac takes the GTX 970 to 1380MHz on air

Zotac has added another variant to its growing lineup of GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards. The AMP! Extreme Core Edition is the sixth GTX 970 to bear Zotac's name—and the fastest one yet. This monster is clocked at 1228 MHz base and 1380 MHz boost, substantially higher than Nvidia's 1050/1178 MHz reference frequencies. The 7.2 GT/s memory transfer rate is higher than the stock 7 GT/s, as well, though the default 4GB memory size is unchanged.

Impressively, Zotac doesn't resort to liquid cooling to hit those clocks. The Extreme Core Edition is sandwiched between a beefy back plate and a triple-fan cooler.

Source: Zotac

The dual-slot cooler lacks the hump found on Zotac's non-Core Extreme Edition, which should improve compatibility with slimmer chassis. You'll still need a case with enough room to accommodate the card's substantial length, though. The official product page doesn't list the card's dimensions, but the cooler looks to be at least a foot long.

Unlike Zotac's old Extreme Edition, which is fed by dual eight-pin PCIe power connectors, the uncore version gets by with dual six-pin plugs. It has the same port payload: three DisplayPort, one HDMI, and one DVI. There's no word on pricing or availability, but Zotac will be showing the card during next week's Consumer Electronics Show.